Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Marlon Sukal

Abstract

Merger and acquisition (M&A) actions are common; however, research on cultural adaptation over time leading to burnout is scarce. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to evaluate the relationships between independent variables defined as organizational and group adjustment, and the criterion variables operationalized as emotional exhaustion and cynicism, and to determine if the adjustment factors and time interact, affecting burnout in middle managers working in a target organization of U.S.-based M&As. The theoretical framework used was organizational socialization, conceptualized as newcomer adaptation, suggesting that individuals must traverse through an adjustment period regardless of the context of the change. Amazon Mechanical Turk was used to identify 220 research participants who were asked to respond to an online survey in SurveyMonkey that assessed organizational adjustment using the Organizational Assimilation Index – Extended Version, group adjustment using the Belongingness at Work Scale, and burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey. Correlation and regression analysis techniques were used to examine the study variables. The results indicated that organizational adjustment was negatively related to cynicism, while group adjustment was negatively related to and predicted both emotional exhaustion and cynicism. The time factor did not moderate any relationships between variables. The results point to the importance of adjustment factors and their potential relationship in reducing burnout in middle managers, thus, providing insights into early M&A integration considerations and positive social change to improve organizational performance and employee well-being.

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